H.E. Prof. Dr. Kan Zaw, Union Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, discusses the government’s development strategies.

European Times: What are your ministry’s top priorities?

H.E. Prof. Dr. Kan Zaw : Our first five-year plan ( 2011-2016), targets people-centred development which improves the standard of living of Myanmar’s people. This means access to electricity, safe drinking water, agriculture, employment, tourism, banking and finance, trade and investment as well as rural development and poverty reduction. We are also formulating our Long-Term National Comprehensive Development Plan (NCDP) for 2011-2031, by which time we hope that Myanmar will have an industrial foundation.

Around 70% of our population lives in rural areas and therefore our primary target is to reduce poverty in these areas. We have reduced poverty from 32% in 2005 to 26% in 2010 and we aim to bring that down to 16% by 2015.

Another important goal is to open up the country to FDI, especially in areas like electricity and telecommunications, water supply and job creation, and labour-intensive industries.

European Times: What are your biggest challenges and how can Europe help you meet them?

H.E. Prof. Dr. Kan Zaw: Our main challenges are poverty, inadequate infrastructure and a need for human resources development and capacity building. We have had a long relationship with Europe and we would sincerely like to reengage with our European counterparts and resume the old friendship and HRD program connections that we mutually enjoyed in the past.

European Times: Why should foreign investors choose Myanmar?

H.E. Prof. Dr. Kan Zaw: We enacted our new Foreign Investment Law and our Foreign Investment Act in 2012 and  the  correct regulations are now in place for FDI. We want to attract FDI in labour- intensive sectors like garments, food processing, assembling and others, and also in heavy industry. The aim is to sustain GDP growth at an average annual rate of 8% within the coming few years and to do this we need to attract around €4 billion in FDI per annum.

Investors arriving in Myanmar will admittedly face challenges in electricity supply and infrastructure, but our competitive advantage is our large and attractively priced labour force and ideal geographic location  between India and China. Dawei Special Economic Zone(SEZ) for example, will connect the Pacific and Indian Oceans and create links between Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; while the Kyaukphyu SEZ will connect Myanmar with China. In the short term, the returns might be less immediate, but in the long term, the benefits of investing in Myanmar are clear.